“Definition” by Rhea Tregebov
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Definition” by Rhea Tregebov.
Definition
By Rhea Tregebov
I describe my woes to my friend, the pro, genius
of a plot greater and finer than my own big old garden
where everything grows into everything else. Definition,
she tells me. Thatโs what I need. I was defined
by a cold place, a time when summer was brief and
brilliant. By a house of enough in a neighbourhood
of just- and not-enough. Pink petunias and orange marigold,
a red rose or two. But here, too much. Too much moneywort
invaded by stonecrop inveigled by barrenwort entangled
with leopardโs bane. Besotted, greedy, jealous
to save every bloom, leaf, for me this more than
enough isnโt too much. Canโt yank a stem
I call flower not weed. Though there is
the buttercup war I keep waging, kneeling
on stones like a penitent, cursing their stubborn
fecund being. But whatโs the difference between
flowers and weeds? Peter, at eight, enlisted as foot soldier,
asks. Pull everything up and what comes back
is weed, my dad in his heyday would kid, neatly
defining invasive. Define need. Define enough.
My friend tells me I need to learn to say no
to ferns sprouting in the daylilies, to sweet woodruff
infiltrating hosta. Need to define what it is I want,
what I keep, love, let flourish. I want too much.
Copyright ยฉ Rhea Tregebov
Previously published in Talking to Strangers (Vรฉhicule Press, 2024).
Rhea Tregebov is the author of eight collections of poetry, most recently Talking to Strangers, published by Vรฉhicule Press in 2024. She is also the author of two novels and five childrenโs picture books. Tregebov served as Chair of the Writersโ Union of Canada from 2021 to 2023. Born in Saskatoon and raised in Winnipeg, she now lives in Vancouver, where she is Associate Professor Emerita at the School of Creative Writing at UBC.
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